The looming joint practices between Washington and the Jets have generated a few interesting sound bites, emanating from the Washington defense’s apparently lingering frustration regarding their inability to hit receiver Terrelle Pryor a year ago, when he played for the team.
Linebacker Zach Brown got it started in June, and Pryor recently suggested that the’ll be ready to respond, if necessary.
Washington coach Jay Gruden claims to have not heard the noise.
“I have not paid attention to that,” Gruden told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m sure it’s quite entertaining. I’m not concerned, really. I know coach [Todd] Bowles will handle his group and I’ll try the best I can to handle ours.”
Gruden hasn’t always been successful when it comes to joint practices, specifically in 2015.
“You know, the Texans fight was really, it was our fault,” Gruden said. “We tried to go a third day. You know, we had two really good days of practice, back to back, and the third day it was raining, and you can tell it was going to be a little chippy. We should’ve probably called it earlier, but you know, coach [Bill] O’Brien and I, we realized we shouldn’t have gone three. We should’ve just gone two padded practices and one in shorts [and] done some more situational work.”
This time around, Gruden won’t be able to say he didn’t see it coming.
“The boys are gonna have it out for him,” Brown originally said regarding the joint practices with Pryor. “We can put hands on him now. . . . The boys were already hot for what he was doing last year. Try to one-hand something while you’re with the Jets, you’re gonna catch a forearm.”
“If they take dirty shots, I’m sure we’ll handle it accordingly,” Pryor recently replied. “It is what it is. We’re there to practice, get better. If I wanted to put my shoulder down and hit one of them and be chippy, too, I’m sure I could do that.”
He could do that, but it will be Bowles’ job to prevent it. And it will be Gruden’s job to keep his guys in line. And that’s what’s needed to create the level of trust that will allow join practices to happen without incident. Fighting during any practice not only shows a lack of discipline but also creates an undue risk of injury, and no coach will want to put his team on the practice field against another team that will create an extra risk of unwanted problems.